What is it? A spill kit presentation containing the following: The impact of spillages and the legal context behind this Examples of the different spill kits available on site and how to select the correct one to use for different substances How to prevent a spillage from occurring or spreading The steps to follow should a spillage occur A short...

Willmott Dixon Construction have been looking for a better environmental solution to prevent silt and sediment entering drainage systems. Common issues with the ‘Witches Hat’ type gulley sock are that they are held in place by nipping the fabric at four points at the grate, however on hinged grates only two securing points can be achieved which allows sediment to...

The project operates in close proximity to 10 sensitive watercourses. A feature of the project is the large amount of earthworks required and managing the potential site run off is absolutely imperative in protecting the surrounding environment. The project partnered with Taytech – a company who provide a dosing system which utilises more environmentally friendly coagulants to help remove suspended...

As a project team, we discussed what we could do, over and above the ‘norm’, to leave an environmental legacy. Having looked at various options for this, we decided to support the Scottish Woodland Trust by dedicating a quarter of an acre of woodland in an area east of the city. Not only did we feel that supporting the Woodland...

Robertson Homes brought in a 100 tonne crane to lift the prefabricated top back onto one of the historic towers of Great Glen Hall. The tower was one of the features damaged by fire in 2007, but has recently been lovingly rebuilt to its 19th-century glory. One of two being restored, the Western tower was the first to receive its...

Our local school had vandals attack their chicken coop, which led to the majority of their chickens being exposed to natural predators leading to only two little hens surviving. As we were trying to take a creative approach on how we could avoid any timber waste on our project, we decided to build a small prototype chicken coop for our...

Morgan Sindall have purchased a new product to keep in the site’s spill kit bins. Ecospill clay mats are temporary mouldable drain covers that can be deployed over drains/gullies in the event of a spill, to prevent the spread of pollution into the drainage system. The mats have a built in polymer reinforcing layer, and are oil and chemical resistant....

As part of the installation of a new dive under railway tunnel, it was required to move rail lines across onto the route of a watercourse (Brook Drain North). The project team therefore constructed an upgraded river section to replace this loss, with the installation of a 840 metre long, four metre deep open engineered earth channel. During pre-construction ecology...

Birds have been an issue throughout the whole build process. Pigeons have often nested or just visited the building, littering surfaces with droppings, creating health and safety issues as well as potentially ruining finished surfaces. Given the nature of the end use of the project, we wanted to scare the birds away in the friendliest way possible. As there is...

Part of the Greenfield platform two extension required the removal of a stand of Japanese knot weed (JKW). To save the knot weed plant material and contaminated soil going to landfill, BGCL engaged the services of Henderson and Taylor (H&T) to incinerate the knot weed and screen the soil to remove the JKW rhizomes. The cost of JKW plant material...

Creation of an outdoor forestry school was undertaken at Smithy Bridge Primary school. The school is located next to Smithy Bridge train station, which had its platforms extended as part of the Northern Platform Extensions Phase 1 project by Buckingham Group. Through liaison with the Head Teacher, we agreed to build a forestry area that would enable the children to...

Some materials frequently used on site are stored in incorrect conditions and locations, consequently damaging the material or its properties. As a result, cost increases and delays to the project may be incurred due to material re-ordering. For example, to maintain the products properties, Ad Blue is required to be stored out of direct sunlight between -6.6°C and 25°C in...

St Edward Homes teamed up with Tweseldown Infant School to plant a tree at Hartland Village, its landmark development in Fleet, to mark the Woodland Trust’s Big Climate Fightback (November 30). Six students gathered to plant the tree, which is just one of the 174 being planted during the first phase of building on site. Mrs Kim Totten, Headteacher at Tweseldown...

The HS2 project aims to plant up to seven million trees along their Phase One Route. An issue presented by this aim is the amount of plastic tree guards that will be needed. Fusion have estimated that 39,000 tree guards will be used between October 2019 to March 2020. Due to the amount of plastic that may end up in...

The Urmston Leisure Centre team planted 45 trees with the carbon offsetting initiative Trees for Life. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) recommends 30,000 hectares of woodland should be planted every year in the UK, and this may even need to rise to 50,000 hectares if other carbon reduction targets are not achieved. Planting trees helps to tackle climate change,...

Removal of an identified bat fly route hedge for access to working area was required. It was suggested to replace the hedge temporarily each night to enable the bats to continue to fly the route. Bat Fly Route Fencing (netting spread across the span previously occupied by the hedge) was installed on an easily movable frame. Further bat surveys, since...

Wills Bros have demonstrated unique techniques when dealing with water management. The aim of this study is to provide a narrative to the water management and mitigation methods employed during the Maybole project and to discuss the end solution adopted to provide an example of best practice techniques for water management on construction sites. A number of methods were adopted...

The site team have installed a Dry Vapour unit which, through a system of temporary pipework, releases dry vapour that prevents the release of nuisance odours from the site’s tank. The vapour that is produced captures and neutralises hydrogen sulphide, ammonia, methane, and other heavy odours. The unit uses between 1 and 2.5 litres of water per week (depending on...

Pupils from a Hereford primary school swapped the classroom for a construction site when they visited the new Cyber Quarter Midlands Centre for Cyber Security. Year three pupils from Lord Scudamore Academy joined building contractor Speller Metcalfe to help create an ‘eco patch’ at Skylon Park, Rotherwas. The children created animal environments including two large ‘bug hotels’ and were given...

The site identified a number of low flow culverts which impact on fish habitation. To alleviate the low-flow issue, the drainage design team did a case study for the sustainable re-use of used tyres. The tyres are organised in an arch-like fashion on the bed of the culvert spanning between the two walls and can be single, double or multi-layered....

One of the key features of Hartland Village is the stunning lake at its entrance. This lake is entirely man made and needed filling upon completion. The obvious solution to this problem would be to use potable (drinking/tap) water to fill the lake. However, water use is a key area in which St Edward looks to minimise their impact, so...

Following on from the Spotlight on… plastics and packaging campaign and given the current climate emergency, along with the media coverage of the climate strikes and Greta Thunberg’s iconic speech at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York last week, BCR decided to look into carbon offsetting through tree planting schemes and we came across Offset Earth. Offset Earth...

The team have again utilised the GIS initiative to add value to the environmental sector in a most advantageous way. Utilising iPad’s, they have overlaid the linear map of the project area with six different layers of relevant environmental data. The site teams can obtain data such as: consent requirements, details of ownership, flood areas, ecology, archaeology and many other...

The site team has undergone underwater excavation in rock using rockwheel aka cold milling. The main scope for the project comprises of repairs to the existing masonry walls, using a combination of concrete, structural grouts and mortars, and replacement stone blocks from a local quarry. Scour and erosion to the toe wall was recognised as a potential source of weakness...

Project Kells is located in Dublin City Centre on the corner of Dawson and Nassau Street, and the project is currently at demolition stage. At the particular junction where the site is located, there are two operating live Tram (LUAS) lines that are a main transport link into Dublin City Centre with a LUAS stop parallel to the site hoarding....

Leaving a positive environmental legacy is an important component of any successful project, and the environment outside of the site boundary should always be considered. In line with Multiplex’s Net Positive sustainability strategy, a group of volunteers from the University of Glasgow project spent an afternoon with Friends of the River Kelvin (FoRK), a local charity whose mission is to...

Due to the large number of vehicles entering and leaving site, the project has installed a drain guard to prevent any debris from entering the water course. Ultra Drain Guards are made from a high permeability non-woven polypropylene geotextile that trap solids and oils but allow water to drain through and also incorporate bypass ports to further maintain flow into...

As part of our ongoing commitments to improving the environmental and also leaving a legacy on the projects we deliver, we have taken delivery of a brand new bee hive and starter kit, which we will be donating to the school as part of our works. As has been well publicised, bees are on the decline and are a vital...

The site team are participating in the Bat Conservation Trust Sunset-Sunrise survey. Our findings are then submitted online to the bat monitoring programme. As a site team, we were looking at ideas to involve the whole site team, including sub contractors, in projects to do with the environment. We are due to complete the construction of a new primary school...

We have launched new KpH Reusable Bottles at our Strip Out sites. The initiative came about as a result of the ‘Spotlight on… plastics and packaging’ campaign (to assess how much single-use plastic we were producing on-site) and as part of our wider Waste Management Review. We asked our site at Bishopsgate to save their drinks bottles for two weeks....

What is the Hub?

The Hub features examples of construction industry best practice sourced from across the UK and Ireland. It can be used by anyone in the industry including site managers, contractors, suppliers and clients, who are looking to improve their standards of considerate construction.

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible.

Cookies are small pieces of text sent to your web browser by a website you visit. A cookie file is stored in your web browser and allows the site or a third-party to recognise you and make your next visit easier and the website more useful to you.

Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

We only use cookies to improve your experience and monitor web traffic. All data we collect on this site is anonymous and not shared or sold. Please find more information here

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookies should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

These cookies are required for you to login and to record your e-learning progress.

disable

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences or login. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Third Party Cookies

This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.

Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.

disable

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!